The body of a 42-year-old fisherman who fell into the backwaters near the Muthalapozhi fishing harbour in Kerala, India, was recovered on Tuesday, officials said.
The Fisheries Minister’s office confirmed that the body of Thomas (Praveen) was found during a search operation in the morning.
Thomas fell into the backwaters near the Muthalapozhi fishing harbour at Anchuthengu on Monday evening while returning from a fishing trip in a country boat.
“He suffered an epileptic seizure while he was sitting in the boat, following which he slipped and fell into the backwaters,” a coastal police officer said.
A scuba diving team from the Fire and Rescue Services reached the location shortly after the incident and began searching for the fisherman. The operation was called off for the night and restarted on Tuesday morning, sources said.
The recovery comes as large-scale search operations continue for three fishermen who disappeared in separate boat accidents along the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram coasts.
The Indian Navy, Coastal Police and Marine Enforcement Wing have been conducting searches for Gautam Krishna, John and Shijin. The three fishermen went missing in separate fishing boat accidents at Neendakara in Kollam and Vizhinjam and Muthalapozhi in Thiruvananthapuram on July 31.
Meanwhile, the search operation for the three missing fishermen entered its 12th day on Tuesday.
